Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Bombers
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Bombers Dive Bombers Aichi D3A A carrier-borne dive bomber, it entered into service in 1940 and quickly became the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service primary dive bomber until the arrival of the D4Y. It was relatively fast and agile, but it greatest limitation was that it could only carry a 250 kg bomb load. The D3A remained in service until 1946 when it was withdrawn from service in favor of the D4Y and D5Y. Yokusuka D4Y The replacement for the D3A the D4Y went into production in 1942 and began to replace the D3A as the primary Japanese Navy Air Service primary dive bomber. Yokusuka D5Y The D5Y was the successor to the D4Y and hade a more reliable engine and longer endurance then the D4Y.The D5Y entered production in 1946 and continued to serve on the Unryū-class light aircraft carriers through to 1952. The D5Y was the last specialized dive bomber to be produced for the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Carrier Bomber Nakajima B5N The B5N torpedo bomber entered service in early 1940, at which time it was considered one of the most advanced torpedo bombers in the world. A stable and accurate aircraft that proved to be an accurate and effective torpedo bomber, the B5N remained the main carrier-borne torpedo bomber until 1950 on board the Unryū-class light aircraft carriers due the B6N not being able to operate from the Unryū-class light aircraft carriers. Nakajima B6N The B6N was very similar to the B5N, but it only differs was that it only had 80 percent more engine power. The B6N suffered from having higher landing speeds and a distance compared with the older aircraft and thus was limited to only being able to be operated from the single Taihō-aircraft carrier in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. However the B6N did serve in larger numbers with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The B6N remained in use on board the Taihō until 1947 when it was replaced by the Aichi B7A torpedo-dive bomber and served with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service until 1948. Aichi B7A The B7A was designed specifically to rectify the greatest weaknesses of the B6N and B5N, their weak armament and lack of strength. The result was a very strong, heavily-armed torpedo-dive bomber. In fact, the aircraft quickly demonstrated its structural virtues to the point where the Imperial Japanese Navy realized the aircraft could serve as an effective dive bomber. As a result, the type entered production in 1946 to fill the roles occupied by both the B6N and the D5Y. The older D4Y and B5N remained in service on the Unryū-class light aircraft carriers who were not able to handle the larger B7A. The B7A remained for a short time the only carrier borne torpedo-dive bomber when it was used onboard the single Taihō-aircraft carrier, but which changed in 1957 when the first Settsu-class carrier became operational who were able to handle the B7A. The B7A also was used by the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The B7A remained in service on board the Settsu-class carriers until the early 1960s. Aichi B8A The B8A was an improved derivative of the B7A. The radial engine was replaced by turboprop and the rear gunner was eliminated, reducing the crew to a single person in a fighter-type bubble canopy. Various other weight-saving modifications were carried out, with the result that the aircraft’s payload increased dramatically. The first B8A aircraft entered service in 1952 where it was deployed from the single Taihō-aircraft carrier and from 1957 onwards on board the three Settsu-class carriers and two Tsushima-class carriers until 1967. Mitsubishi B9A The B9A is the carrier borne bomber version of the Mitsubishi A12M carrier born fighter. The B9A main difference with the A12M is that it has six underwing pylons instead of the four of the A12M. The B9A entered into service in 1961 and remained to be uses as the main carrier borne bomber until 1978 when it was replaced by the B10A. Mitsubishi B10A The B10A replaced the B9A in the role of bomber operating from the three Settsu-class carriers and two Tsushima-class carriers from 1977 onwards and as of 1982 is the main bomber operating from the five fleet carriers in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy. A mid-wing, twin-engine monoplane with a crew of two it looks a lot like the Blackburn Buccaneer operated by the British Fleet Air Arm but at a closer look the difference between the B10A and Buccaneer can been seen as the B10A is somewhat smaller and is a dual seat aircraft instead of the Buccaneer being a tandem seat aircraft. Land-based Bombers Mitsubishi G3M The G3M Medium bomber entered service with the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in 1935 and remained in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service until 1945 when it was replaced by the G4M. Mitsubishi G4M The limitations of the G3M lead to the accelerated development of its successor, the G4M. This featured an internal bomb bay and massive fuel tankage that gave it a maximum range of almost 4,000 miles. Although it was very heavily armed by the standards of its day, those fuel tanks proved to be a significant liability in service, their vulnerability making the aircraft an easy target once intercepted. The G4M started replacing the G3M in mid-1941 and, at first, the aircraft proved highly successful. The G4M remained in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service until 1949. Nakajima G5N A heavy four-engine bomber which entered into service in 1941, but due the design proving to be to complex and performance was below requirements. There were only 12 build. By 1945 all of the 12 G5Ns where used as long-range navy transport aircraft instead of their intended bomber role and by the early 1950s where removed from service with the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Mitsubishi G6M With the failure of the G5N, the need for a more battle-worthy replacement for the G4M picked up urgency. Mitsubishi designed the G6M to fill this need. This was primarily a further development of the G4M engine being replaced by a much stronger one, the fuel tanks and crew sections protected by armor and a new, simplified wing and fuselage design. The result offered very little performance improvement over the G4M while range was severely reduced. A small number of G6M aircraft were operated by the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service but by 1947 the G6M had vanished from service having been replaced by the G7M. Mitsubishi G7M The Mitsubishi G7M is the naval version of the Mitsubishi Ki-67 in use with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The G7M replaced the G4M in the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and remain in use as a medium bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service until the late -1950s. Another version based on the Ki-67 called the Q2M1 and designed for antisubmarine warfare was also used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and was equipped with a radar unit and carrying torpedoes or depth charges it remained in use until the mid-1960s. Mitsubishi G8M In the autumn of 1944, the Japanese government acquired a manufacturing license for the Ju 390 long range bomber. Under the licensing agreement, detailed manufacturing drawings were handed over to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service who sought to have their own counterpart to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service Kawasaki Ki-91 heavy bomber. The G8M entered service in 1946. The G8M remained in service throughout the 1950s with the last aircraft of the type being withdrawn from 1954 onwards as the G10N arrived to replace it. Mitsubishi G9M The Mitsubishi G9M is the naval version of the Mitsubishi Ki-120 in use with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The G9M was the first jet powered bomber operated by the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The G9M first flew in 1948 and remained in service until the late 1960s when it was replaced by the Nakajima B12N. Nakajima G10N In 1943 Nakajima began to work on a design of long-range heavy bomber which would be capable of taking off from the Kuril Islands, bomb the continental United States and then fly back to Japan. When the G8M entered into service in 1946 work on the G10N was still underway and not until 1948 it was when the first G10N prototype flew. The G10N entered service in 1950 and slowly replaced the G8M as the main long-range heavy bomber in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. When in 1956 the Empire of Japan exploded its first atomic bomb in the Gobi desert saw a new role being added for the G10N , that of a nuclear bomber, a role it performed until the mid-1960s when it was replace by the G11N. Nakajima G11N The G11N is a modification of the G10N, replacing the radial engines with more powerful turboprops. The glazed nose was replaced by a solid nose containing bomb-navigation radar. The first G11N flights happen in 1954 and had been introduced into service in 1958. It had replaced the G10N as the main conventional/nuclear bomber in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service by the late 1960s and as of 1982 remains the main long-range heavy bomber in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Nakajima B12N The Nakajima B12N is the naval version of the Nakajima Ki-123 in use with the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. The B12N began to replace the G9M from 1969 onwards and as of 1982 is the main medium bomber in service with the land base squadrons of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service.